I'll Keep You Safe
by OhJay
Summary: Hope's final moments before he is killed in Augusta tower...Oneshot, implied HopexLightning


_**"I'll Keep You Safe"**_

Hope Esthiem couldn't have been more excited when Augusta Tower was completed. When? the proto Fal'Cie Cocoon could be levitated once more, and everyone could be saved. Fang and Vanille would be alright, and the horrible Future that Noel had lived through wouldn't happen.

_We're so close now..._

He could tell his team was feeling the exact same way; everyone was smiling, ready to see the results of the long term project that they'd all worked so hard on.

A sudden scream tore through the air from the floor below, startling them all out of their thoughts. The sharp staccato of gunfire soon followed.

"Go see what's happening," he told one of his team members, having a bad feeling in his gut.

"On it," they said as they headed towards the elevator.

Before they could reach it they were hit by a powerful laser blast from above, killing him before he hit the ground. Hope heard Alyssa gasp, while he could only stare in shock.

"What is this?" he shouted as the AI machines he and his team built surrounded them, ready to fire.

"No..." he whispered.

He wasn't sure why, but the AI had decided to kill them and take over. They were all done for. He had nowhere to run, and no way to fight. The only weapon he had with him was his boomerang, and he knew that wouldn't do him any good. He was no longer a l'Cie either, so he couldn't use the magic he once knew.

He wondered if he could, then maybe he and Alyssa would stand a chance. Then they could fight their way through and try to escape, but then what? What if the AI took over the city? Looks like that should have been the Al.

_What have I done?_

He had made a mistake, created a monster. The AI was no different than the fal'Cie Barthandelus, seeing humans as tools and disposing them as he pleased.

_I'm sorry..._

This was the end of him, that much he could tell. But what else had he doomed because of the project? Would the future be worse than what it already was? Did he doom the time line because of his mistake? Was death his punishment for it?

Taking a step back nervously, he saw that Alyssa was behind him, frozen in fear. He could understand why; she had feared death ever since the purge. Now they were both going to die, and it was all his fault.

_"I'll keep you safe..."_

He remembered Lightning telling him that when she hugged him all those years ago. He remembered feeling the security of her warmth then, and not wanting her to let go. He had felt completely awkward about it then since he'd had a secret crush on her, but he could remember telling her that he would try his best to watch out for her as well.

Looking back on it now in his final moments, he realized how idiotic that had sounded. He was just a kid then, but even now, all grown up, he couldn't keep anyone safe. Not Lightning, not Alyssa, or anyone on his team. He couldn't even protect himself.

Lightning couldn't help him now either. She was fighting in Valhalla, or at least that was what Serah and Noel had told him. He had joined the academy in hopes of finding her before he knew that, he'd wanted to see her again and tell her how he really felt about her. To show her that he wasn't a hopeless kid anymore. He was still hopeless though. He could see that now.

One of the machines prepared to fire its laser at him, and he knew that he only had seconds left. He closed his eyes and shielded himself with his arms, even knowing that it wouldn't help. He heard Alyssa scream, and knew that it was all over now.

He only wished that he had been able to see Lightning one more time...

_**Author's Notes**_

I know it's extremely short, but I had a ten second cut scene to work with here -_- Poor Hope T_T I'm glad that they didn't kill him permanently (SPOILIOR: Instead they had to go and kill Serah, and lamely too! Grrrr). He seriously needs to get a new weapon so he can not get himself killed so easily though. Which brings me to this question for future fics: What should Hope's new weapon be? I got nothing...

And yes I will still continue to write for FFVII as well so don't worry.


End file.
